Palliative Care Competencies for Undergraduate Medical Students in Canada

A competency-based model of medical education is being integrated across the trajectory of medical education in Canada -- from undergraduate, to postgraduate, to continuing professional development --  as a way to ensure that Canadian physicians have the skills and abilities required to provide safe and effective medical care, and to guide lifelong learning, where physicians’ skills and abilities evolve along with changes in healthcare and in response to patients’ and societal needs. 
The goal of this palliative and end-of-life care (PEOLC) undergraduate curriculum is to integrate key competencies and their enabling competencies into each medical school’s curriculum and build on currently existing curricula.
We trust that this document will help medical schools to equip Canada’s future physicians with the fundamental skills and knowledge to provide a palliative approach to care for their patients with life threatening illness and their families across the multiple different settings of care.